Article holder



W. H. M INTOSH ARTICLE HOLDER March 10,- v1959 Filed Nov. 8. 1954 ARTICLE HOLDER William H. McIntosh, Zephyr-hills, Fla.

Application November 8, 1954, Serial No. 467,460

2 Claims. (Cl. 24-3) This invention relates to article holders and particularly to article holders having means by which they may be secured to clothing and articles, such as spectacles, whereby the articles may be safely held against loss or damage.

The object of the present invention is to provide an article holder which may be attached to the clothing and has means for securely, but yieldably, holding an article.

Another object is to provide such devices which may be made as articles of costume jewelry having article holding means which will be inconspicuous and will not detract from the appearance of the jewelry.

Still another object is the provision of a holder having article holding means which is contractible, so that it need not extend across the face of the pin when not in use.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description of practical embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of an article holder embodying the principles of the present invention, a pair of spectacles being shown in dotted lines held in place thereon;

Figure 2 is a rear view of the device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front view of an article holder of difierent design having holding means of slightly modified form; and,

Figure 4 is a rear view of the device shown in Figure 3.

In general, the invention consists of an article holder which may be ornamental in appearance, and has means which is flexible and extensible to firmly but yieldably hold an article in place thereon.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and first adverting to that form of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2, there is illustrated a piece of costume jewelry having an ornamental body or member 1, having a general outline configuration defining an included area of substantial extent, the body being provided with a releasable pin 2 on its rear side for securing it to the clothing of the user. Any desired design configuration and outward appearance may be used on body 1, as long as certain features, which will be described, are present for cooperation with the article holding means to be described. In Figures 1 and 2, the representation of a butterfly is shown.

The article holding means consists essentially of yieldingly extensible elastic members 3, attached to the back of the ornamental body 1, and a loop, or ring, 4 which con nects the elastic members. Although a single elastic member will be satisfactory, two members 3 held separated for the major portions of their lengths, are shown. These members have their ends secured to the back of the ornamental member at spaced points, as at 5. Additional eyes, or guides, 6 may be attached to the body 1 near the bottom thereof to hold the elastic members 3 in proper spaced relation. The elastic members pass around the bottom of the ornamental body and have their ends connected to the ring 4.

" nited States Patent i 2,876,513 Patented Mar. 10, 1959 Near the top of the body, a projection of some kind will be provided which the ring may engage to hold the elastic members extended across the front face of the ornamental member. This may be a part of the design used, such as the tentacles 7 of the butterfly. It will be understood that the elastic members will be extended downwardly and around the lower portion of the body, and under tension, when the ring is hooked over the projection.

Thus, the tentacles 7 and ring 4 constitute releasably attachable parts of the article holding means. The arrangement is such that a substantial extent of elastic members 3 will be self-retracted to concealed relationship at the rear side of body 1, upon release of the ring 4 from the tentacles 7.

When it is desired to secure an article to the holder body, the ring is yieldingly removed from the projection and the elastic members allowed to contract and draw the ring downwardly of the body. The article, the spectacles for example, is positioned to have laterally extending central portions thereof firmly hacked and supported against backing portions of substantial lateral extent on the forward face of the body, and then the ring drawn up yieldingly to extend the elastic members and encircle the article, and to be engaged over the projection 7. As shown in Figure l, diametrically opposite portions of ring 4 will yieldingly engage the article at spaced points, thereby providing a balanced grip to hold the article firmly against the body. The flexibility and elasticity of the members 3 insure a yielding grip which will not harm fragile articles. To release the article, it is merely necessary to remove the ring from the projection or tentacles 7. When no article is being held and ring 4 is released as described, the elastic members 4 will contract and the ring will be held against the bottom of the body. If desired, the ring may be slipped around the tail of the butterfly to a position at the rear side of the body. in either event, the holding means need not extend across the face of the ornament when not in use.

In Figures 3 and 4 a slightly modified structure is shown. In this form of the invention, the ornamental body 8 is shown as of triangular form. The front of the body may be ornamental in any desired manner. Here, the article-holding means also include flexible and extensible members, but is composed of springs 9 and fine chains 10. As shown, two of the springs 9 are connected to an eye 11 near the top of the rear of the body, and chains 10 are connected to the springs. The chains extend around the bottom through notches 12 and over the face of the body. Other springs 9 are connected to the front ends of the chains, and theother ends of these springs are joined to a ring 13. The ring is adapted to slip over the point of the body, or a hook 14 formed thereon. In the back, the chains pass through spacing guide eyes 15, and the notches 12 hold the chains properly spaced at the bottom of the body.

The second form of the invention is operated in the same manner as the first form. The chains pass around lower end of body 8 and the ring 13 is engaged over the hook 14, whereby diametrically opposite portions of the ring yieldingly engage laterally spaced portions of the spectacles, firmly to back and support the same on the body. The springs keep the chains taut and the chains provide the necessary flexibility.

In both forms of the invention illustrated, the holding means include flexible and extensible members, as previously described, and the body forms a base upon which the article to be held may firmly rest. It will be evident that the elastic portions of holding means may be a single member, or that these portions may be attached near one edge of the front of the body and extend over the front only.

While in the above, practical embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it will be understood that the precise details of structure shown and described are merely for purposes of illustration and the invention may take otherforms within the scope of the appended claims.

Whatis claimed is:

1. An article holder comprising, a body member in the form of a base plate of appropriate design outline having means thereon 'for attaching it to a garment, said base plate design having a projection on one edge and a pair of spaced apart recesses in the opposite edge with said ,p ojection and recesses forming part of the base plate design, a pair of .fiexible and extensible article holding members attached to the base plate on the back face thereof spaced from the edge having the recesses, and a ring connected to the free ends of the article holding members, whereby said article holding members maybe seated in said recesses to hold them spaced apart and drawn across the front face of the base plate and an article placed thereon and the ring slipped over the projection to yieldingly hold the article against the front face of the base plate.

2. In an article holder as claimed in claim 1, said flexible and extensible members each being composed of a spring at each end connected by a chain with one spring adapted to lie against the back face of the body member and the other spring upon the front face with the chain extending around the bottom edge of the body member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 746,844 Jordan Dec. 15, 1903 851,327 Thompson Apr. 23, 1907 987,085 Fraser et al Mar. 14, 1911 1,002,013 Urban Aug. 29, 1911 1,083,835 Jones Jan. 6, 1914 1,483,592 Pelstring Feb. 12, 1924 1,780,060 Bluff Oct. 28, 1930 1,793,847 Edens Feb. 24, 1931 2,389,717 Cohen Nov. 27, 1945 2,435,818 Cohen Feb. 10, 1948 r 2,637,080 Nemser May 5, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,876,513 March 10, 1959 William H. McIntosh It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4, line 8, after the body member. add the following claims:

3. A holder for spectacles or a like article having a laterally extending grippable portion, comprising a supporting body having front and rear sides and being of general outline configuration defining an included area of substantial extent and providing backing portions of suflicient lateral extent to have the grippable portion of the article firmly backed and supported mwardly against the same, means on said body for attaching the same rearwardly onto a garment, at least one flexible elongated member yielding extenslbly mounted on the rear side of said body to be substantially concealed by the same in a retracted condition of the at least one member, guide means on said body for positioning said at least one member across the front side of the body, and attaching means including releasably interengageable portions on said body at a point above said backing portions of the same and on said free end portion of the at least one member yieldingly to engage the member with I said grippable portions of the article backed and supported against said backing portions.

4. A holder for spectacles or a like article having a laterally extending grippable portion, comprising a supporting body having front and rear sides and being of general outline configuration defining an included area of substantial extent and providing exposed backing portions against which the grippable portion of the article is adapted to be engaged means on said body for attaching the same rearwardly onto a garment, yieldingly extensible means mounted on said body to be substantially unobtrusive from the front side thereof in a retracted condition and including at least one flexible elongated member anchored at an inner end thereof to the body and adapted to be yieldingly extended across the front side of the body, and attachin means including releasably interengageable portions on said body and on a free outer end portion of the at least one member adapted to retain portions of said extensible means in yielding engagement with said grippable portions of the article while the same is backed against said backing portions. 7

5. A holder for spectacles or a like article having a laterally extending gri pable portion, comprising a supporting body having front and rear sides an being of general outline configuration defining an included area of substantial extent and providing backing portions of sufiicient lateral extent at said front side to have the grippable portion of the article firmly backed and supported inwardly against the same, means on said body for attaching the same rearwardly onto a garment, yieldingly extensible means mounted on said body to be substantially unobtrusive from the front side thereof in a retracted condition and including flexible elongated members anchored to the body at laterally substantially spaced points and adapted to be yieldingly extended upwardly at the forward side of the body, and attaching means including releasably interengageable portions on said body at a point above said backing portions of the same and on said free end portions of the members adapted to retain portions of said extensible means in yielding engagement with said grippable portions of the article backed and supported against said backing portions.

in the heading to the printed specification, line 5, for 2 Claims. read 5 Claims.-.

Signed and sealed this 25th day of August 1959.

Attest 2 KARL H. AXLINE, ROBERT C. WATSON, Atteatz'nq Oyficer. Commissioner of Patents, 

